Monday, 9 May 2011

Semi-Official FAQ

As with every new codex, there are some glaring rules questions in the Grey Knights codex which will never truly be answered until Games Workshop release an official FAQ.

Until that time, Grey Knights players have been afforded a rare piece of clarity. After some intrepid gamer over from the Bolter & Chainsword forum emailed (probably multiple times) the GW service centre he was actually sent a couple of email responses with clarifications!

I've included the entirety of the two emails below. Any rulings here will be overwritten by the OFFICIAL GW FAQ! Having said that these emails are from the Australian Games Workshop Hobby Service Centre, so it's the highest authority answers we have at this point!

Enjoy.

Email #1 Dear BrockThanks for your email. Let's see if we can't tackle this long list of questions about the new Grey Knights (please bare in mind that there is a good chance that the studio might bring out an FAQ for the Grey Knights but until then please go by this email clarification) :The first one is Falchions. They state that they are a pair of close combat weapons that grant the bearer +1 attack. Is this cumulative with the +1 attack for having two close combat weapons, giving a total of +2 attacks to a model with Falchions, or is the +1 attack already the bonus for a pair of weapons? The pricing to equip a model with the weapons is quite costly if it only gives one more attack, especially in an army that is almost always outnumbered, and where maxing out squads can hurt the army's effectiveness badly.It's +2 attacks in total; +1 for arming the model with a pair of Falchions and +1 for being armed with two close combat weapons.--Can Interceptors and Dreadknights with personal teleporters use their 30" shunt move during heir scout move, if it's granted to them by the Grand Strategy?No they cannot use their personal teleporters while making a scout move. It states in the scout rules section that it must be a normal move. Pg 76--If a stubborn unit is assaulted by (or assaults) a unit with psychotroke grenades is their leadership modified by the 'They're Horrible' result? How does this interact with Ork Mob rule? Does the psychotroke grenades' 'The world is spinning' override Eldar Banshee masks? If 2 units, both with Psychotroke grenades assault a single unit do the results stack?The stubborn units maintain their leadership as the stubborn special rule states that the unit always ignores negative modifiers when taking a morale tests (Pg 76) The same goes for the Ork Mob rule effected models as it says they too may always choose to substitute their leadership value with the number of Orks in their mob. As for the Banshees, they would be effected by the 'The World is Spinning' result in that they would have their initiative reduced (this effect is trumped by the psychotroke grenades) but the Banshee masks ability to negate any initiative bonus conferred by cover would still remain. As for stacking results, yes they do but if you roll up the same result it only applies once.--Is the Initiative test for the brain mines taken on unmodified Initiative or do we factor in modifiers like Furious Charge, Psykout Grenades etc?This would be tested on whatever their initiative is including modifiers as it does not state that it must be tested on unmodified initiative.--Since there are wargear items that modify leadership, is the leadership used for the psychic hood unmodified?No, modifiers would not come into effect beacuse the psychic test as stated in the rulebook in the psykers section, are made on the models own leadership value. Pg 50 Paragraph2.--Are Pintle mounted Storm Bolters with Psycannon Bolts, main or defensive weapons? Their strength makes them main, but the rules list them as 'an additional defensive weapon'. Is the Basic storm bolter on the rhino considered to be pintle mounted?No, a pintle mounted storm bolter with psycannon bolts is no longer a defensive weapon. As stated in the defensive weapon section, onl weapons of strength 4 or less are considered to be defensive. The increased strength from the pysbolt ammunition makes the storm bolter no longer a defensive weapon. Pg 48--When making a sweeping advance test, do you take into account any Initiative increases from Nemesis Force Halberds? Do opponents take reductions from Psyk-out grenades into account?No, the initiative test made by a model who is sweeping advanced is always made on the initiative value on the model's profile according to the sweeping advance rules in the rulebook . Pg 40--When an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor has two Daemonswords, do they get the +1A for two cc weapons? Basically, if you roll different abilities for the Daemonswords, do they still count as being "the same special weapon" for extra attack purposes?No, this an impossible scenario, an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor can only take one Daemonsword as the option is only offered once in their entry in the Grey Knight army list section. The power fist, incinerator, nemesis daemon hammer, daemon blade, or hellfire for 15 points each is only offered once as one option (the 15 points pertains to the cost of each item as opposed to 15 points collectively). Pg 87--If you have multiple Grand Masters (including Mordrak and Draigo) in your army, can you use multiple 'The Grand Strategies'? Or are you limited on only one, regardless of how many Grand Masters you have?Yes, each Grand Master would generate different grand stratergies. However, you may only assign one grand stratergy to a unit maximum, as the units effected by a grand stratergy must have the same grand stratergies as the other units selected to have the same role. Pg 22--As the Dark Eldar Crucible of Malediction forces a Leadership test, are Grey Knight vehicles effected by this? If they are and they fail, are they removed from play? If the vehicle is also a Transport, what happens to any embarked units? Are they also removed from play?No, vehicles would not be effected. They only have leadership values for the purpose of psychic tests as stated in the Psychic Pilot rule in the Grey Knight codex. Pg 21--If the brotherhood champion is in close combat with a unit of monstrous creatures and chooses the Rapier Strike stance can he only kill 1 model from the unit or are wounds allocated as normal? Can he use this ability to snipe out monstrous creatures out of units?No, he must allocate all the attacks to one independent character or monstrous creature in base contact as stated in the Rapier Strike rules. Any additional wounds caused if the target is killed are disregarded. Pg 26--Can the grand master's grand strategy affect assassins, Crowe, and Mordrak (if he doesn't take any ghost knights), who are listed as characters but not Independent ones? What about allies?The power would affect Crowe and the Assassins (though chances are this may change in the FAQ) Mordrak is also affected by Grand Stratergies, it just spefiies that his retinue of Ghost Knights are not affected (However if the Spear of Light Stratergy is taken and Mordrak couldn't take it as he can't leave the unit and the Unyielding Anvil as it would make the entire squad a troops choice, the other Grand Statergies would be fine as they can be restricted to just Mordrak). Allies are not affected by Grand Stratergies. Pg 23--If an IC is joined to a unit with the brotherhood banner and the banner activates the force weapons, does the IC have to activate his? At what Initiative step is this performed, the IC may have a higher or lower Initiative? What happens if the IC has run out of powers he can cast for that turn?Yes, the independent character would have to activate the with the unit the only exception would be if he has run out of psychic powers that turn. However, his activation is still resolved seperately as stated in the Force Weapon special rule in the Nemesis Force Weapon section. Pg 54--If Mordrak is embarked in a Storm Raven, that is nominated to enter play by Deep Strike, does the Storm Raven benefit form Mordraks "First in the fray" rule? If so, would this be possible if the Storm Raven carries a Dreadnought in addition to Mordrak?No, the Storm Raven is a seperate unit for all intents and purposes. It's only if he and his unit of Ghost Knights enter play via deep strike through teleporting in.--When a squad activates their force weapons, do all Nemesis Force Weapons in the squad inflict Instant Death, or is it one per squad, chosen by the owning player?All nemesis force weapons are subject to the Force Weapon special rule. Pg 54Well, we hope that provides some clarity on these rules concerning Grey Knights. Again bare in mind that that future FAQ updates may provide alternative intepretations and in the event of this happening follow the FAQ. So please make sure that you keep an eye out for regular FAQ updates. Thanks once again for your email and if you have any further questions regarding Games Workshop hobby, product, games or events please feel free to get in touch with us again.Email #2Dear BrockThanks once again for your email. Let's see if we can't provide clarity on yet more Grey Knight questions:What happens if you Master Craft a Template weapon, such as a Grandmaster Master Crafting an Incinerator? Currently, there are no rules for this so it would seem that MC has no effect on template weapons, and the purchase would be wasted. Is this correct?Yes, you can master-craft a template weapon however, it has no real effect on the weapon as the rule grants the weapon to re-roll one single roll to hit. As a template weapon does not need to roll to hit this re-roll in turn becomes redundant. Pg 57 Grey Knight CodexHow do Nemesis Doomfists work for the Nemesis DreadKnight? Not being a Walker, do these double the NDK Strength? If a Nemesis DreadKnight equipped with both a Nemesis Doomfist and Greatsword chooses to use the Doomfist, does it follow the DCCW rules and gain an extra attack for having an additional weapon?The Nemesis Doomfist as it states it it's entry in the Nemesis Force Weapons section of the Grey Knights Armoury in the Grey Knights Codex, states that it works in the same way as a Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon with the additional rules of the Nemesis Force Weapons (because it is one). If a Nemesis Dreadknight were to be equipped with a Nemesis Doomfist and a Nemesis Greatsword he wouldn't be able to gain the additional attack because even though they're both Nemesis Force Weapons they're different types of close combat weapons as detailed in the Fighting With Two Single Handed Weapons section of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook. Pg 42Do Servo Skulls reduce the scatter distance for Orbital Strike Relay blasts that land within 12" of them?Yes because all three options are blast weapons according to their entry in the Grey Knights Codex. Pg 58If an enemy unit deep strikes onto a servo skull is it a mishap or does the servo skull retreat? What about friendly units?In the instance of an enemy unit deep striking and landing on top of the Servo Skull, the Servo Skull would be destroyed as according to it's rules in the Wargear Section of the Grey Knights Codex. As the models have moved within 6" of the Servo Skull causing it to self destruct. As for a friendly unit that land on top of it, you would just place the models around it as best you can so they're as close to the landing point as possible.Can you Master Craft an Orbital Strike Relay? Silly, I know, but it says it's treated as a weapon. And listed with the rest of the Weapons.Yes you can master-craft the Orbital Strike Relay as the option is there. However, just like the template weapons in the earlier question it will have no effect. As the Shooting section of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook explains a roll to hit is a roll of D6 for each shot fired. Because ordinance weapons roll a scatter and 2 D6 for each shot you cannot re-roll one single shot of a D6 as their aren't any single D6 rolled in the process of firing an ordinance weapon. Pg 15Is the Orbital Strike weapon a Barrage weapon?No, if it was it would say so in it's profile.Can a unit with a Null Rod cast psychic powers providing they don't affect there own unit? eg SmiteYes, if a unit with a Psycher wants to cast a psychic power and a member of the same unit (or potentially the psycher himself) is armed with a Null Rod they can cast psychic powers so long as they have no affect on the unit itself as the rules for the Null Rod state in the wargear section of the Grey Knights Codex. Pg 57If a unit is firing plasma weapons at a unit with a psyker in it using the psyocculum within 12" of a plasma syphon, what's it's BS?The model firing the plasma weapon would be considered BS 1 as the effects of the Ulumeathi Plasma Syphon would trump the effects of a Psyocculum.If an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor has a Nemesis Daemon Hammer and a Force Weapon does it get the +1 attack for 2 CCWs? Are Nemesis Daemon Hammers, force weapons or thunder hammers (or both) for working out whether they get an additional close combat attack?No he would not gain +1 attack. Just like in your question before about the Nemesis Dreadknight with Nemesis Doomfist and a Nemesis Greatsword, the Nemesis Daemon Hammer and the Force Weapon are two different types of close combat weapons. A Nemesis Daemon Hammer whilst yes is a Force Weapon due to it being a Nemesis Force Weapon, it is also a Thunder Hammer as stated in it's rules in the Nemesis Force Weapons section of the Grey Knights Armoury in the Grey Knights Codex. Seeing as though the other Force Weapon is not a Thunder Hammer it cannot be combined to gain an extra attack again as stated in the Fighting With Two Single Handed Weapons section of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook. Pg 42 If an Inquisitor is armed with a Daemonblade but is not a psyker what is the effect of an 11-12 on the chart? If a model is armed with a Daemonblade and a special weapon (eg force weapon) do they still have to use the special weapon in close combat?Yes, he would gain mastery level one and be able to cast one psychic power a turn. If the model is armed with a Daemonblade and a special weapon then you mush choose which weapon to use that turn as per the Fighting With Two Single Handed Weapons - Two Different Special Weapons rule in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook. Pg 42If Heroic Sacrifice or Cleansing Flame used against any Grey Knights, is the Psychic Test to cast them subject to the Aegis special rule?Yes they do as it effects any enemy psycher trying to cast a psychic power on a unit with the Aegis special rule. Pg 21 Grey Knights CodexIf a psyker has mastery level 2 or more can they cast the same power more than once per turn, assuming they aren’t shooting attacks, if the first casting was unsuccessful?No, as it says in the Psyker Mastery special rules in the Grey Knight Codex he may use one psychic power per mastery level per turn. So when you use the psychic power whether it's successful or not you've used it for that turn. Pg 21Does the shrouding psychic power affect vehicles and/or monstrous creatures? Currently vehicles need to be obscured to get a cover save which the power doesn't state, and it doesn't appear to override the 50% rule for MCs.Yes, as both can receive cover saves like their non-vehicle (as it states in the Vehicles and Cover - Obscure Targets section of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook) and non-monstrous creature counterparts, they could have those saves improved upon. Pg 62What initiative value do you use for the warp rift psychic power, is it the majority or the best?You're doing it model by model basis. So each model would test on their own respective initiative (modifiers would apply if there are any).With Mindstrike missiles, are the models under the blast marker the ones who suffer Perils of the Warp, or is it only if the opposing player allocates wounds inflicted onto a psyker in the squad? Also, is each Grey knight squad hit with a Mindstrike missile only counted as a single psyker for the purposes of the Perils of the Warp, or is one Perils inflicted for each Grey Knight under the marker?Only Psykers hit by the template from the Mindstrike Missile suffer the addition Psi-Shock effect and suffer the effects of Peril of the Warp. The other models who aren't psychers in the unit who are under the template only suffer the regular hits. As for the Grey Knights, as per their rules they're only treated as a single psyker so they'd only take one Perils of the Warp for the unit.Thanks once again for your email. Again this is subject to update from future Grey Knights FAQ. It might be a good idea to have both your Grey Knights Codex and Warhammer 40,000 rulebook on standby during your games so that you can reference it if a rules query pops up. Remember that the Most Important Rule of All on page 2 of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook takes precedence over all. Thanks once again for your email and we hope this inspires you and your friends to play more exciting games of Warhammer 40,000!

These rulings present us with a few interesting points. Firstly, that Scout-shunts are illegal, no more sucker-punch lists for us! Although you can still scout a 12" jump, so first turn charges aren't impossible, just very unlikely.

Also empyrean brain mines got a lot better, as the enemy is affected by psykout grenades for a test, forcing psykers and daemons to make an initiative test on a 1!

The final big revelation for me is the falchion ruling. Paying out 5 points for +1 attack always seemed extremely expensive, especially for terminators who get a choice of +2I, hammer or extra inv save for free! Now that falchions provide +2A total, I think we'll be seeing alot more of them! Especially in Terminator squads with banners! Meaning each terminator would get 5 Attacks! (6 charging). If you throw a librarian in for I10 attacks, who cares about halberds?

I'm off to order me Mordrak & The Ghost Knights [best band name ever!]